1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to medical diagnostic equipment, and in particular to a thermal scanning system and method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Chiropractors and other health care professionals have previously used hand-held devices to measure skin temperature at a variety of locations along a patient's spinal column. The purpose of taking such measurements is to monitor skin temperatures surrounding the spine. Alterations in skin temperature readings may be indicative of abnormal autonomic nervous system activity, which in turn may indicate a spinal subluxation, or misalignment of adjacent vertebrae. Chiropractic care is directed toward locating and correcting subluxations by spinal adjustment. By creating a record of thermal readings paraspinally, i.e., along both left and right sides of a patient's spine, during the course of care, a chiropractor can quantitatively assess where subluxations exist, and how chiropractic care helps to alleviate them.
Prior thermal scanners have enabled users to take temperature readings in a variety of ways. Large, expensive, and complex thermography devices have been used to measure temperature at numerous locations across a patient's entire back, enabling the user to create a “thermograph” of the patient's entire spinal region. These systems have not been easily portable, nor practical for use in a chiropractor's office.
One prior art system suitable for chiropractors used a single infrared thermal sensor mounted in a hand held unit, sometimes called a “paddle.” The drawback of that approach was that in order to take paraspinal readings, the user was required to take two passes along the spine, which is time consuming and inaccurate since the paraspinal readings are taken at different times.
A dual sensor thermal scanner was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,552,284 to Evins. However, that system required different paddles to be used in order to accommodate patients of different sizes, such as adults and small children.
Another prior art approach is reflected in U.S. Pat. No. 4,849,885 to Stillwagon, et al., which discloses using, for example, twelve spaced infrared sensors mounted on a single hand-held unit which is rolled along the patient's spine. By allowing the sensors to take continuous readings as the paddle is rolled, a continuous line graph of bilateral temperatures along the spine could be generated quickly. However, that system was complex since it required that the data generated by each of the multiple sensors be processed into a data matrix. Further, this system required the user to move the paddle at a uniform rate along the user's spine in order to properly correlate the temperature reading with the location along the patient's spine from which the reading was taken.
Smaller, simpler devices using only two infrared sensors mounted on a hand-held paddle have also been used in the chiropractic field. One such system has been marketed by Titronics Research & Development Company of Oxford, Iowa as the “TyTron C-3000.” This system also used the continuous “rolling” technique. One drawback, however, was that since the infrared sensors were spaced apart a fixed distance, in order to take readings from different sized patients, the scanner had to be used in a different mode requiring multiple passes along the spine. In particular, a first pass was needed to take readings from one thermal sensor on one side of the spine, and a second pass was required to take readings from the other side of the spine.
A prior infrared sensor device was also marketed by EMG Consultants, Inc. of Maywood, N.J. as the “Insight 7000 Thermal Scanner.” This system utilized two separate hand-held paddles, each incorporating a single infrared sensor. Thus, left and right side paraspinal readings could be taken simultaneously from patients of different sizes. One drawback of that system, however, was that the user was required to use both hands to hold the paddles. Also, that system did not permit continuous, or “rolling” scans, but rather was limited to a series of static or discrete readings at selected locations. However, it did permit scanning at discrete locations off the paraspinal axis by holding the two paddles at different angles. This enabled readings at the anterior fossia of the ears, referred to as the “atlas,” or the vertebra marked C1, which was not possible with prior “rolling” scanners.
While the foregoing summary identifies some of the drawbacks of the prior art, it is not an exhaustive listing of all the features of the prior art, nor of all the differences between the present invention and the prior art.
Thus, a need exists for a simple, easy to use, hand-held thermal scanning device which is adaptable for use with patients of various sizes. Moreover, a need exists for a system which accurately correlates temperature readings with the location along the patient's spine from which the reading is taken.